Andre Drummond is willing to do whatever it take sin order to help his Detroit Pistons win, even if that means going an unconventional route with his free-throw shooting. That could mean we could see Drummond start taking his attempts from the charity stripe with an underhand toss to the basket.
Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy mentioned the possibility on Thursday.
“As far as shooting underhand or anything else, it’s fair to say my discussion with Andre yesterday and the discussions Jeff and I have had and staff — everything is on the table,” Van Gundy said Thursday during the season wrap-up at The Palace.
“It won’t be a unilateral decision; we’ll do some research on some things and come up with what we think is a good approach, talk to Andre and see what he thinks and develop an approach going forward.
“We all know it’s an important thing — Andre more than any of us – he’s pretty open to anything. There’s a lot of ways to attack this problem and we’ll all have a hand in it.”
Such a throw is one you might see little kids doing in the driveway and you would never expect to see something like that in professional basketball. Taking a throw in such a manner is not at all common in the NBA, but if it helps Drummond help with his free-throws, then why not give it a shot? Who knows. This could be a revolutionary technique for big men who struggle to sink free throws. Maybe Shaq should have given it a try?
Drummond shot just 11-of-34 from the free throw line in the Pistons’ first-round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Sending him to the line was a wise strategy for the Cavs, and other teams have exposed that weakness as well during the course of the NBA season.
“The one good thing about this season was it was the first time people used that strategy against him extensively,” Van Gundy said. “He’s very motivated and very open-minded in terms of approaches. It’s something he wants to get solved; he doesn’t like being on the bench for that reason.”
The fact Drummond is supposedly open to trying such an unorthodox method to help his team, even if it means becoming a bit of a source of humor around the league at first, should be commended. He sees a weak spot in his game and is willing to try anything and everything to improve his game. Whether or not this will ultimately be the final solution remains to be seen, as the Pistons now have plenty of time to figure something out with Drummond.
